All Star Spider-Man: One and Only
by Darth Skywalker
Summary: After 7 years of anger and thinking, I finally decided to write a resolution to "One More Day" and "One Moment in Time," using the same naming convention as those stories. This is set immediately after Secret Wars 2015 and plays loose and fast with assumptions about the new reality. Inspired by Grant Morrison's "All Star Superman!" Please review, leave feedback, and ENJOY.
1. Prologue

_A Few Years Ago – Hell_

The rivers of hell bubbled with lava, ash, and pure heat as a wraith bathed and screamed simultaneously. This soul had been sent here many years ago for its sins of the body, of the heart, of deception, of cheating, of fornication, and sometimes it wondered if the pain and torturing would ever end.

As the hot liquids oozed over the abstract form it had taken in the next life, it sensed a familiar presence momentarily that also screamed out in pain, but the suffering was too much to take its attention away from the bathing that was forced. The dark lord himself, Mephisto, oversaw this daily routine for this group of the accursed, and he would be on his way soon, making his daily round.

The doomed soul looked around. Wraiths writhed in pain and screamed in anguish, while others were attacked by stray demons and their souls were gobbled up and spit out, slowly then taking years to reform to some sort of defined mass.

While the suffering was intense, the soul knew that if it had another with it, this pain could become tolerable, even in this place, and it had to try and cut a deal with Mephisto…to offer him an opportunity at something that he wouldn't be aware of otherwise unless it was able to tell him of this rare gem.

As these thoughts flowed, intermingled with feelings of tortune and pain, Mephisto suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and stuck a pitchfork in the soul's chest, sending a shooting pain and a feeling of death through its "body." The screams increased, as Mephisto grinned evilly and yelled _**"Less thinking, o accursed being, and more bathing!"**_

The soul gritted its teeth and dared to respond. This was its chance. " _O Evil Dark Lord, I can point you to a great opportunity for a soul that would satisfy your hunger for centuries…give me the chance to tell you…"_

Mephisto looked skeptically. _**"This is surely a trick!"**_

" _Oh no, my Dark Lord…look above…the Civil War is in sight…and within the Civil War, three lights…one may go out for the night…but the hero would do anything to make this situation right._ _ **"**_ The soul peered intently at the Dark Lord. _"And I mean, anything. Including sacrificing the love that keeps you away and at bay."_

As images began to materialize, the other inmates and Demons of Hell began pointing upward, yelling and screaming and hooting and hollering at the potential new neighbor they might have, but before they could do anything, Mephisto suddenly whirled his trident around and took out the heads of ten souls who then began running around in panic and confusion, while the rest of the gawkers immediately went back to bathing. The Dark Lord then looked back at the offeror. _**"It seems I will test your proposition myself. I return shortly."**_

The soul waited intently, and within several minutes, the Dark Lord returned, grinning happily. _**"Well, it seems I underestimated you my subject! These noble beings have quickly given their soul and love to me…now, you may name your price since this is going to be quite the success for me."**_

The soul was thrilled. It would finally be united with its long lost love, even if it was here in the pit of eternal damnation. It happily responded _"O Dark Lord, I have no price…I gladly and willingly sacrifice any chance to leave this place just to be with my one true love, forever…but send my comrade back to keep them apart…we need him for this plan to work successfully…that is all I ask."_

Mephisto looked at the soul that was now being chased by a terrifying demon, and immediately remembered a name, a strong family loyal to him. He smiled, nodded, snapped his fingers, and suddenly the other soul disappeared. _**"Seize the day, my subjects!"**_ Mephisto yelled while turning to the others suffering the torture, and then he also took his leave of this group.

Our tortured soul managed to smile, then quickly forgot what had just transpired as the pain and suffering took over again. It would eventually remember when the time was right…

…soon.

TO BE CONTINUED!


	2. The Gang's All Here

_Boston, MA – Present-Day_

"Death is a strange thing. Many of us see it as an end, and understandably so. Many of us see it as the beginning of the next life. Others of us see it as the final hurrah before a complete termination of existence."

The clergyman who had previously conducted the funeral service watched as a body was lowered slowly into the awaiting grave. "You know what though…look around. To me, I think this is a great opportunity to appreciate and remember what we have around us. Because who knows, it could be gone forever tomorrow." He then looked at the individual he was addressing, as the two of them stood several yards away from the burial activity.

Peter Parker was lost in thought, as he watched his Aunt May Parker in tears, sobbing, just ahead of him. They were at the funeral of her late husband, John Jameson Sr., whom she had just recently married. It was truly a bittersweet irony in that May had managed to cheat death on so many occasions through the years, yet today, it was the person who had given her life new meaning that was now gone.

As Peter mulled over the clergyman's words, he smiled. "Thank you, Father." He then moved closer to his aunt, looking around as he did so. He was amazed by everyone who had showed up and made the drive to Boston. Flash Thompson. Betty Brant. Robbie Robertson. Glory Grant. Ben Urich. Jessica Jones (and Luke Cage in tow). Liz Allan. Harry Osborn (Harry!?).

Peter did a double take at the sight of Harry and Liz standing a few feet away from each other but not speaking. He knew they were likely facing challenges with Normie, their young son they had together before their divorce many years before. But Harry and Liz were not on talking terms, that was a given. For Peter, the fact that he was seeing Harry at this funeral was concerning, since his once-best-friend had recently gone completely undercover after certain events in both of their lives, preferring to start his life over with his new son from a separate relationship. While some people could be fooled by the disguise—shaved head, beard—Peter knew his friend too well. Nevertheless, he figured he would let him and Liz take care of their business and hoped he wasn't reverting to old habits that had caused him problems in the past.

He looked next to his aunt as he squeezed her shoulder for support and she grabbed it with her hand supportively. J. Jonah Jameson, his former employer, former Mayor of New York, and current host at F.A.C.T. Channel, sat in a chair looking on in disbelief as the final preparations were made for his father, Jameson Sr to be lowered. His son John stood next to him, mirroring Peter. It had been a tough year for the family. First they had lost Marla, Jonah's wife and John's stepmother, to a senseless attack by Alistair Smythe and his Spider-Slayers. Now this.

Peter looked down, realizing he had a lot to be thankful for. While he had recently been taking to whining about how his life seemed to be going nowhere, he had to realize that being the CEO and Chairman of a powerful technology/science organization was a blessing. Peter sighed, and then looked at Jameson, whose luck appeared to be going the other way.

"Jonah," he stated softly.

Jameson didn't look up, making a guttural "humph."

"Jonah," Peter repeated. "I'm sorry for your loss…I know you and I haven't seen eye to eye in a long time, and you may never speak to me again, but trust me, I know how it feels to lose a father. If there's anything I can do…just let me know."

Jameson looked up momentarily, then his eyes narrowed, and he pointed a finger at Peter. "How dare you, you son of a bitch." He stood up, knocking over the chair. "You think you're high and mighty in that ivory tower of yours, and suddenly today it's your day to be like us normal folk again, well guess what Parker, you'll never be nothing more than a second rate photographer! You know as well as I do, karma is going to hit you in the face someday!" He walked right up to Peter until their noses were inches apart, and then he whispered, "You make me sick, kid."

John quickly grabbed his father, shook his head at Peter and mouthed " _I'm sorry"_ and walked Jonah away. Peter nodded knowingly, then turned back to his aunt. "Aunt May," Peter started, before she shook her head and stood up, collecting herself. The rest of the crowd had pretty much dispersed, with some folks milling around still.

"Peter, I have to meet someone who can help me get through this…I need to talk to them privately." She looked at him and smiled, hugging her nephew. "I'm sure you are doing great things, making a lot of money, right?" She laughed briefly and Peter could tell it was forced.

"But Aunt May…you know I'm here for you," Peter protested.

Her eyes flashed angrily. "Are you?" She caught herself, then looked back at the grave and sighed. She began sniffling again. "John was there for me…"

"Don't worry Aunt May…you have plenty of people around you who care about you still and who will make time for you," a familiar voice uttered.

Peter whirled around in shock and looked behind him. Sure enough…

MJ.

"Hello, Peter," she said. "It's been a while." After the greeting, she grabbed Aunt May and left Peter gaping at her, as the two of them walked to a…limo!? With…"Stark Enterprises" emblazoned on the doors?

Wow.

As the doors closed and the limo veered away, Peter sat down in the chair, alone momentarily. He thought about this. It seemed that since Doctor Octopus had taken over his body, most people now seemed to despise him, whether as Spider-Man or as Peter Parker, and even when he explained to MJ what had happened, it wasn't enough for her to get over it. In addition, some of his old friends had taken it even worse, i.e. Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, who had turned to a life of crime again and at one point had tried to kill him because of Doc Ock's horrifying treatment of her when he was in Peter's body. It seemed Aunt May had never forgiven him either. Peter now realized he needed to accept responsibility for this and admit his wrongs, even though they weren't his…but as he could tell from these reactions, it may have been too late. And now MJ was working for Stark?

Immediately, thoughts raced in his mind of MJ and Tony together…was she an employee? Was she dating him? What was this all about, and how come Tony hadn't said anything? Hell…MJ didn't even call him "Tiger" just now!

 _Get it out of your mind Peter…she's not yours anymore…you gotta move on._

Peter had in fact secretly began wondering if he needed to see a psychologist. While he had always credited himself as being strong and able to withstand a lot in life, the experience with Octavius felt as a sort of mental rape to him. The man had practically taken over Peter's life and abused his body and mind, and at times Peter couldn't deal with the guilt of profiting and benefiting from the changes he had made, but on the other hand the alternative was to go back to the life he had before the change, which wasn't bad, but at this point given all the people he had infuriated, would basically amount to being a struggling photographer again.

 _Yet that would be the responsible thing to do_ , the voice in his head urged. Peter tried to counter it and found he couldn't. What exactly could he do, though? He was responsible for thousands of employees and in a way was bringing good to the world and to others…to walk away from all that…well…he would see.

As Peter tried to forget all of this, he heard a booming voice. "There's Puny Parker…let's get him!" He felt two strong hands lift him out of his chair, and he was tossed off the ground to face Flash Thompson.

"Uh, hi Flash," Peter smiled. This was interesting. Peter had learned recently that Flash, his old high school nemesis, had inherited the Venom symbiote, but had harnessed it for good and now worked for the US government with it as "Agent Venom." But ironically, Flash still didn't know Peter was Spider-Man.

"Hey Parker," he smiled, tussling his hair. "Listen, I'm sorry for your loss…"

Peter shrugged. "John wasn't really my relative…"

Flash looked at Peter incredulously. "Come on, he was your Aunt May's husband. Practically your stepdad if you ask me. But all right…anyway, reason I stopped by was I was wondering if you'd be interested in meeting Betty and I for coffee later today."

Peter looked confused. "I thought you guys stopped talking after, ah, your little incident with her brother…"

Flash smiled broadly. "What was that I used to say…oh yeah…she couldn't resist the trademark Thompson charm for too long!" He laughed at his own joke, and Peter pretended to laugh to humor him. Here at least, was one friend who hadn't given up on him. On a whim, Peter decided to go for it. Life was too short, as the clergyman had pointed out.

"I'm in Flash. Let's do this!" Peter smiled. Flash was surprised for a moment, but then nodded excitedly. "Cool. So we'll see you at the Bean near the Fleet Center, later tonight, say 7?"

Peter scratched his head. "They have a Bean over here, in Boston?" It surprised Peter what a nation wide chain his hometown coffee shop had turned into over the years. Then he shrugged, and flashed a thumbs up. "I'll be there with bells on, buddy."

An hour later, Spider-Man whisked around Boston, having donned his old costume for just one night, patrolling the skies for any activity. While Peter had created a façade with the Parker Industries setup to have Spider-Man as his "bodyguard" and had come up with a new costume, a new process, even several sidekicks in Prowler and Mockingbird, he didn't feel this charade was necessary in Boston, where his presence was less of a regular sight. More notably, the charade was beginning to tire Peter to an extent.

Sometimes he wondered of the necessity of the secret identity in the 21st century. Was it really worth it anymore? Sure, at the time he had started out, it was important, but given the technology of the day, with social media exploding, and given Peter's current state in his personal life where most people seemed to want nothing to do with him…he felt it was something worth thinking—

Immediately, a ringing began in Spider-Man's head as his patented spider-sense went off, and Spider-Man dodged a dart, the contents of which were unknown but he quickly guessed could have been fatal. Spider-Man webbed his way to a full u-turn and faced his adversary, standing on a nearby rooftop.

The Jackal! Miles Warren? In Boston?

It was slightly preposterous but not out of the ordinary for some of Spider-Man's "personal" villains to show up in cities where he traveled, but in this case, the Jackal was one of the few that knew his identity. Still, he had thought the Jackal was under lock and key, so this could only mean a jail break had occurred. He sighed as the villain began announcing his intentions. This man had been one of Peter's high school teachers eons ago, before his obsession with Peter's girlfriend Gwen Stacy had destroyed his life and turned him to evil.

"Parker, my boy!" he yelled from the rooftop. "I'm so proud of what you're doing these days…all these inventions…this work, this technology…I want to work for you! Give me a job!" He grinned with a large and ugly set of teeth.

"Why Jackie, I'd love to," Spider-Man said, as he moved towards his adversary. "But there's only one job opening right now, and I think you're not going to find a better opportunity than that." He landed a blow to the Jackal's face as he reached the rooftop. "My personal punching bag."

The Jackal immediately jumped back to his feet and roared, pouncing on Spider-Man. "Yes, continue the wisecracks," he said, and before Spider-Man could counter, the Jackal suddenly he produced another dart and jammed it into Spider-Man's head, and Spider-Man immediately crumpled to the ground.

The Jackal stood tall, as Peter cursed himself. He felt himself fading away, as the Jackal produced a wire and attached it into the end of the dart, then jammed the opposite end of the wire into his head. As blood began slowly oozing from his head, he smiled at the downed superhero.

"You see my boy," he began. "I know you too well, and I know that the man that was cavorting around the good old red and blues for the last several months was not my star pupil…hell, I don't even know if this is really you…but I watched your battle with Octavius quite closely, and I knew he was able to pull something off…this little mind swap tactic."

"How do you know about that…" managed a weakening Spider-Man.

The Jackal produced a nano-bot and smiled. "I found one of these little things." The nanobots had been pivotal to Doctor Octopus' scheme of taking over Peter's body, but Peter was surprised the Jackal had been able to find one. Then he crushed it with his hand and leered. "But I can do it better, and with this light poison dart and mind swap combination, this time your body will be _mine_."

As he produced a suspicious looking metal stick with a few buttons on it, he smiled at Spider-Man. "Your powers, your empire, your money, the women that lust for you…" he grinned at the last part. "This will all be mine. You really were my favorite student, my boy. But now, I will simply flip the switch on this device here, and soon I'll be yours, and you'll be mine."

The Jackal held up the stick, and eyed the buttons, ready to perform the switch. "See you on the other side!"

Spider-Man braced for the worst, and closed his eyes.

TO BE CONTINUED!


	3. The Dreamboat and the Bookworm

_A green skinned figure towered over a crumpled red and blue form on a rooftop, cackling evilly._

 _If you've seen this before, stop us now._

 _Okay, but in all seriousness, last issue, we left off with the Jackal threatening to switch bodies with Spider-Man, and he is one of the few people who also knows he is Peter Parker._

 _What happens next?_

 _FIND OUT NOW!_

"Pretty women and mountains of money, here I come!" exclaimed the Jackal, smiling. As his hand moved towards a button, he paused to look at his downed opponent, Spider-Man. He opened his mouth to say something else but was rudely interrupted…

…by a swift kick to the head, knocking him nearly off the rooftop he was standing on. A weakened Spider-Man looked up, confused, to see the tall form of…Venom?!

No…this had to be Flash Thompson. His old high school classmate and one-time best friend.

 _But yeah, still Venom,_ Peter thought glumly. This was _not_ what he had been hoping for.

As the Jackal roared angrily, he attempted to pounce back at Venom (or more accurately, Agent Venom), who effortlessly produced a sleek-looking black rifle and somehow positioned it swiftly into the Jackal's mouth. The Jackal muffled a scream, and Agent Venom immediately placed his finger on the trigger. As he tried to move, suddenly a few symbiotic tentacles emerged from Venom's form and wrapped themselves around the Jackal, pinning him down. Another tentacle then emerged and pulled off the mask the Jackal was wearing, revealing the face of Miles Warren.

Agent Venom roared heartily, and then he turned to Spider-Man, holding the Jackal in place with his arms and tentacles.

Peter was silent and didn't move. This was his first real interaction with Flash in this form. Quite frankly, he didn't know what to do.

As he lowered the gun, Agent Venom…or Flash…used his free hands to pick up the device that the Jackal had dropped in his state of anguish and observed it. He quickly tried opening it up, playing with it for a few seconds. He pushed the button and Peter braced himself….

…only for nothing to happen.

Agent Venom tossed the remote to Spider-Man and shrugged. " **Guess there's nothing there, boss,"** he commented.

Spider-Man sheepishly observed the remote that was in his hand. Sure enough, no batteries, no true electrical wiring inside…just a rectangular box with buttons. He had let the Jackal beat him and scare him like this?

Agent Venom then produced his own brand of webbing and neatly tied up the Jackal, who was now clearly visible as a sullen looking Miles Warren. " **We'll leave you here for the authorities, good sir,** " Venom commented. He then turned back to a humiliated Spider-Man.

This was downright embarrassing. One night without his high-tech costume and upgrades and he had been easily dispatched by the Jackal, and worse, his old best friend who a few years ago had lost his limbs, had just outshone him.

" **Look kid,** " Agent Venom stated. " **I don't know what you are trying to pull here, but my suggestion in the future is leave the super-heroing to guys like me, and you just go on and not dress up in Spider-Man costumes, whoever you are.** "

Spider-Man held his hands up. "Stop," he weakly intoned. Spider-Man then stood up and yanked the wire out of his head. "Ow," he muttered as he did so. Then he sighed and dusted himself off, looking at his savior. "Listen, Agent Venom, I, uh—"

This time Agent Venom held up his two hands. " **No need to mention it, little buddy. You be good now.** " Agent Venom then put his gun back in the symbiotic holster, turned around to leave, and whisked himself away. Spider-Man shook his head. _Not done yet._

He quickly followed his friend and caught up eventually, and as Agent Venom noticed Spider-Man swinging beside him, he did a double take and had to stop at another rooftop, where Spider-Man joined him. _Got his attention_ now, thought Spider-Man.

The two men/crimefighters stood upright now, facing each other, tense. The games and bravado were over. Spider-Man broke the silence after a few minutes. "Look, and I'm not just saying this to break the awkward silence but…you and I know each other. Better than you think."

Agent Venom cocked his head, seeming unsure. Then Spider-Man breathed deeply, and pointed to an emergency door. Agent Venom got his signal and the two ducked in, slamming the door behind themselves. As they stood at the top of the stairwell, Spider-Man removed his mask and Agent Venom froze.

"Hello, Flash," Peter said, looking intently at his friend.

A long silence ensued again, and then Flash's face suddenly popped out of the symbiote, staring at Peter in shock.

Peter tried smiling at his friend. "So…any reaction?"

For a moment, Flash continued to gape, and then, he definitely reacted.

By swinging a massive blow to Peter's face.

Peter went flying into the door, completely unprepared (and duh, it was Venom after all so no spider-sense!) He popped up surprised, wiping blood from his mouth. "What the hell, man?"

Now Flash was furious. "That's the question I should be asking you, idiot!"

"Dude…I was trying to be open and be a good friend, and share this with you!" Peter pleaded.

"Oh yeah…you did a real good job of that," Flash retorted, stepping closer to Peter. "Don't even tell me…those years in high school, when I was the biggest Spider-Man fan…you actually mocked me with this Puny Parker fake-ass stunt?"

Peter slapped his head. "Jeez, Flash…come on, that was years ago. Are you going to blame me for _that_?"

Flash ignored him, continuing down his train of thought. "What the hell was it, man? Was it because of my thing with Liz? Was it something with Mary Jane? Gwen? What, man? Athletics? Come on, tell me why you never told me and instead now make me feel like the world's biggest dumbass since-"

Peter winced at the mention of Mary Jane and Gwen, and cut him off. "Okay…enough."

Surprisingly, Flash stopped and glowered at him. "All right. You get ten seconds before I call up Jameson and tell him."

Peter rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious," Flash insisted.

Peter shook his head. "All right…well…for years, I had, and still do, have this belief that if I share this terrible secret with anyone…it exposes that person to the very same danger that I have to deal with, except they can't fight back. And quite frankly, the only reason I decided to share it with you is not just because you can protect yourself pretty well now…but also because…" he trailed off. He looked down for a moment, collecting himself. Then he looked back.

"Flash…you are all I have left of what was the most innocent time of my life…hell, of all of our lives…and to know that you not only have experienced what it's like to do… _this_ …" he pointed back at himself, "…and on top of it, wear _that_ suit…" he pointed to the Venom costume, "…I mean…I wore that thing, dude. No one but you…and maybe a few other deranged idiots…know what that means."

Peter looked at Flash with an intent expression. "Quite frankly, Flash…I didn't choose to get my Spider-Powers. It would be a long story for me to tell you how I got them and how that changed my life. But the story I can tell you is why I just showed you I'm Spider-Man. I did it because I really, really need to talk to someone about what I do…what I've done…and what the hell I'm becoming…and I think you're the only one who could possibly understand."

This time, Flash remained quiet and didn't retort back. Then he responded after a few minutes. "You know," he said quietly. "I'm thinking about this. Still trying to process it. And I remembered, we're still supposed to meet you for coffee…Betty and I both. Let's talk."

Peter pointed at Flash. "Does she know?"

Flash nodded. "About me? Yeah."

"And?" Peter asked.

"Let's just say it didn't go well…but like I told you earlier…we're working on it. You know, Parker," he said. " _I_ could use _your_ help with this…with her."

Peter smiled. "Anything for the only friend I have left."

Flash returned the grin and extended his hand, which Peter grabbed in a handshake. Church bells began ringing off in the distance, and Flash grimaced. "Ah, church bells…hate 'em. You probably know exactly why…but anyway, that means it's 6 PM. I'm gonna change and see you in an hour, Puny." Flash's face disappeared under the Agent Venom costume and then he whisked himself away, breaking down the door to the stairwell they had been standing in.

Peter shook his head ruefully, smiling as he put his mask back on.

 _The dreamboat and the bookworm, bros for life._

TO BE CONTINUED!

 _ **Just a small scene to tide everyone over. And now, it's time to respond to our reviews, Marvel-style! Thanks for writing in to us, true believers!**_

 _ **First comment is from Neosfotty, who writes:**_ _"_ The ending annoyed me slightly as Spider-Man's spider sense should have warned him and allowed him to dodge that attack from jackal and also really? Another mind-swap? Hopefully this isn't the premise you were talking about in the summary."

 _ **Neosfotty, as you can see here, clearly, the Jackal was way out of his league, and is slowly descending into a special type of delusional insanity. Peter's only mistake was that a) he had gotten too dependent on his Parker Industries tech and b) the Jackal has been able to outwit spider-sense before (see Amazing Spider-Man #129 (if only they let comics run for that long these days before the damn reboots!)**_

 _ **Next comment is from keyblade master cole, who writes:**_ _"_ Wow I really feel bad for peter epically everyone hating him even his aunt damn."

 _ **KMC (can we call you that?) – let's be real, if someone in your body did all the things Doc Ock did in Peter's, I think people would be pretty uncomfortable hanging around you again…even those you love. It would just be weird…plus, I kind of felt Peter needed to suffer the consequences a little bit…deal with the fallout, which quite frankly, we haven't seen him do…so it's all coming home now.**_

 **Last comments are from Celgress:** "I wonder who exactly the dastardly "soul" is (along with the identity of its comrade) who struck the deal with Mephisto?" _**and**_ "Interesting choice of a villain for this part in Jackal."

 _ **Celgress, thanks for the feedback. Regarding the "dastardly soul," we will find out soon enough who this is and just how far it is willing to go to get what it wants. As for the Jackal, after reading this chapter you probably think I am done with him for the purposes of this fanfiction…nope, think again! He will be back sooner than you expect…and plays a pivotal role in Peter's story.**_

 _ **Well, that's it for now…but the good news, expect us to pick right up in 1-2 days…we are going to keep it rolling along! PLEASE LEAVE MORE FEEDBACK! Haven't written in years, and I forgot how much fun this could be. I thank everyone for their time. Even if you want to tell me it's terrible, just share your thoughts. Thanks.**_


	4. A Tale of Two Industries

_Stark Towers – Boston Branch_

" _Welcome to Stark Towers, in our newest location here in the heart of Boston. As you look outside while we travel upwards, you can see the amazing view of this beautiful and historic city. In 1894…"_

Mary Jane Watson looked at the woman occupying the elevator with her, who clearly wasn't paying attention to the speaker in the lift describing Boston tourism and staring outside, her mind somewhere else. "May?" she asked. "You going to be fine?"

May Reilly Parker Jameson snapped out of her daze. "Oh, I'm sorry dear," she quickly responded. She managed a wan smile. "I was just staring outside, this is such a nice elevator you folks have here, with the clear view, why, it feels like I'm flying!"

Mary Jane could tell she was trying to pass off a good mood for her benefit, but she completely understood. After all, the lady had just become a widow a few days ago. As the voice over the intercom continued to natter on, Mary Jane tried to engage her in conversation, which had been the whole point of inviting her here, to get her mind off the loss of her husband, John.

"It is something…listen, I wanted to bring you here because we used to have these kinds of late lunch dates all the time…you know, before the Civil War…before Avengers Tower…and I thought it would be good to take a trip down memory lane," Mary Jane offered. "I know things aren't the same now for obvious reasons…but look, just because Peter and I don't talk anymore doesn't mean you and I can't continue to be friends."

At that, May came to attention. "You two aren't even friends?" she inquired.

Mary Jane thought about the last few months. The supposed brain-swap with Otto Octavius controlling Peter's every move. The failed reconciliation, yet another let down. The refusal to take responsibility for any of it and the repeated "poor me" trope that Peter had gotten in the habit of falling into again. And now, his obsession with this Parker Industries company of his – a clear ripoff of Stark Industries, her current employer. How in the hell could Peter be comfortable with the fact that if the megalomaniac had taken over his mind, the company he was now running and the PhD he had picked up were all thanks to him?

She kept all that to herself and just shrugged at May. "I guess people change," she managed.

May looked outside again, thoughtfully, as she shared her thoughts. "They certainly seem to…you know Mary Jane…the reason I came here was partially to meet with you, but the other reason is trying to figure out what happened to the man that meant so much to me—no, to both of us." Before May could continue, the elevator slowed to a halt and Mary Jane privately thanked the stars for that, given Peter was a topic she wanted to keep to a minimum.

" _100_ _th_ _Floor. Please enjoy your stay at Stark Towers and have a wonderful rest of your day."_

As the women exited the elevator, eco-friendly lights detected their presence and lit up. A host of robotic servers came to life, and the roof began retracting to transform the darkened floor they had been on into a high-rise café, as tables and chairs appeared from panels on the floor. Mary Jane gestured around with a flourish. "Hopefully it's not too excessive?"

May smiled, somewhat awed. She was proud of Mary Jane for being able to secure the job working for Stark. "I see Mr. Stark keeps up with the latest and greatest technology," she commented. "Speaking of which, dear, how is your publicity position going?"

Mary Jane smiled. "Let's just say it's interesting. Keeping Tony Stark's name out of trouble is a full-time job. But if there's one thing I've learned from the modeling, the acting, my experience at the nightclub, and with being around Spider-Man's photographer all the time, it's that every job, every relationship, is a learning experience. No expectations, no pie-in-the-sky dreams. This is just me having fun."

As the pair decided on a table, a floating robot server rolled up to their seats and greeted them. The robot was clearly built with Iron Man's armor in mind, except it was shorter and had a platinum color arrangement. _"Hello ladies, I am Anthony-51, and I will be your server this afternoon. What will you be having?"_

"Oh my," gasped May. "Such professional service. How did you program this, Mary Jane?"

The server responded for her cheerfully. _"Thank you for your compliments, ma'am. I was built by Mr. Tony Stark several months ago and he programmed me. Ms. Watson here has been a great supervisor and frequently utilizes me and my colleagues for public relations events. She has given me additional programming to be able to not only serve you, but entertain you with the latest jokes, keep you informed of the latest breaking news, give you sports scores, and tell you what's trending on Twitter. May I ask if you'd be interested in checking your Facebook feed?"_

Mary Jane leaned back in her chair, her eyes twinkling as she winked at Aunt May. "I love them like children, what can I say?"

The two ordered some wine, and then made small talk discussing Mary Jane's role at Stark Industries. Tony had been in a rough spot one night and had stopped in at Mary Jane's club. He briefly remembered her as Peter's ex, but took an interest in hiring her when she gave him some blunt advice about his life, and while he hired her as a publicist she also doubled unofficially as his life coach and borderline psychologist. The man had dealt with much and was attempting to rehabilitate his image due to some of his actions as of late, and given the money he offered, Mary Jane couldn't turn it down. She had made a deal with him initially to keep the club, but after a while she loved the job so much that she ended up selling it and traveling with Stark. Mary Jane rolled her eyes when May asked whether she and Tony had any interest in each other.

"Oh come on, May," said Mary Jane. "Even though Ollie and I broke up…Tony isn't my type…and I have more self-respect than being another notch in his bed post." She smirked. "Besides, he's my boss. I don't do workplace romance. Rule #594 of Mary Jane's made up book of office etiquette."

May smiled. She then talked about her experience with John, speaking candidly about how much joy he had brought to her life over the past year, but how difficult the last few months had been as he had quickly succumbed to a devastating heart condition that he had attempted to ignore and refused to let her divulge to anyone, until last week when she found him unconscious in the kitchen. He had been rushed to the hospital but he passed away enroute.

"Now, I genuinely don't know where I'm going to go or what I'm going to do, Mary Jane," she said. "And Peter…look, I know you don't want to talk about him, but I'm really upset that he's been so preoccupied in the work that he barely comes over to spend time with me anymore. Yes, he came over once for dinner a few months ago, but since then…nothing. At the funeral, I hope I didn't make much of a scene but I just couldn't help it."

Mary Jane clasped her hand as May began to tear up. "It's okay May," she said. "I know what a pain he can be sometimes." She looked down at the hardwood floor, then back at May. "I feel like something happened to all of us at some point…me, Peter, all of our old friends…where we woke up one day and things just felt horribly wrong. You know?"

May looked confused. "Hmm," she said. "It's funny you say that, Mary Jane. You know, I've actually felt at times that my life had gotten unusually happy and that seemed to feel terribly wrong…until today of course…"

Mary Jane nodded. "Maybe it's because you haven't fully gotten over Ben and are worried to let him go," she offered.

"Oh my," responded May, gasping. "I haven't." She began tearing up again, just as the drinks came, and quickly wiped her tears away.

" _Okay ladies, I've got a couple of vintage wines from Mr. Stark's private collection, transported from his main office in New York, and…oh, hello Mr. Stark!"_

The women turned around to see…well, an interesting sight.

Tony Stark marched into the dining area, in gym shorts…sweat glistening off his topless frame, as a towel was thrown over his shoulder. Mary Jane knew his schedule inside out, and determined he had just wrapped up his morning workout. "Hello, 51…and ladies," he said, smiling. He grabbed May's hand and kissed it. May, for her part, turned bright red. He then turned to Mary Jane.

"Red," he asked her. "You going to introduce me to this gorgeous friend of yours?"

"Told you not to call me that, Tony. Should I start calling you Tinny?" Mary Jane retorted, smirking. She turned to Aunt May for a moment. "Don't be seduced by his good looks, May. His insufferability and his pompous ego will slowly kill any attraction you might have for him." She then smiled sweetly at Tony.

Tony rolled his eyes, exasperated. "Damn modern-day feminists," he muttered. Then he nodded at May, getting serious. "Ma'am, I'm Tony Stark. Welcome to our Boston office. I see you're acquainted with my insolent publicist here. Anything I can get you?"

Mary Jane raised a finger as May was still too starstruck to respond. "Actually, Tony…I have a request."

Tony bowed mockingly. "Anything for you, my love," he crooned.

Mary Jane sniffed. "Yeah, sure, until it's year-end compensation discussion time," she retorted. "Look, Tony…I was thinking…May here has actually just lost her husband and I don't want her on her own…can she stay with us?"

Tony got serious as he heard of John's death and he knelt down and took May's hand again. "Wow," he exclaimed, then he looked May in the eye, intently. "Ma'am, first off, my sincere condolences."

May looked down, quickly whispering thanks.

Tony tilted her chin to look at him. "Look, any friend of Mary Jane's is a friend of mine…and if you need somewhere to try and grieve, pick up your life, anything…you are welcome to stay in any of my Towers." He looked back at Mary Jane. "Because in all seriousness, she's changed my outlook on life and I trust her implicitly."

May considered Stark's offer, and as she was doing so, her phone began ringing. She grabbed it out of her purse and Mary Jane could see it was a Facetime from…oh, no. This was going to be _awkward_.

May swiped as Peter's face appeared on her screen. "Hello, Peter," she said, smiling at her nephew. "Everything okay?"

" _Hi Aunt May, just checking in on the most important woman in my—whoa, where are you? And is that a guys' nipple behind—"_

May whirled around, to see the still-topless Stark behind her, and she blushed. "Oh, that. Um, well dear, Peter Parker, say hello to Tony Stark. Tony, please meet my nephew, CEO of—"

"I know who he is," Stark responded, and Mary Jane could see he was doing his best to keep his teeth clenched. Stark then smiled and she knew that expression too well. He was going to try and one-up Peter, over a video chat. While Stark didn't know Peter was Spider-Man, he had been working with Mary Jane long enough to know that she and Peter had dated and had been together for years before their last breakup. He also had ranted several times to her about Peter stealing his ideas and name, and potentially some of his technology. He had been working on some court cases (it was commonplace for the tech industry, he had explained) to throw Peter's way for patent theft, which would probably result in countersuits.

So, ugh. Male bravado would be incoming here too.

"Hey MJ," he said, calling over for her to come in the sight of May's phone. "Isn't this your ex…I mean…friend? You should say hi to him." As MJ reluctantly stepped over and just waved at Peter, Stark wrapped an arm around her, making sure Peter could see.

MJ could see Peter's expression darken and his face turn rage-filled, and for just a moment, something inside of her that she had thought long-dead seemed to resurrect. It was that high-school, girly feeling of _"Oh my god, he's jealous because he still wants me!"_

But it only lasted a second as Peter's image disappeared and the call ended. MJ immediately freed herself of Tony and pushed him back. "What the hell, Tony?" she asked, incredulous.

Tony raised his hands up, defensively chuckling. "Relax, MJ, relax…I was just having fun with your ex…come on, I'm sure it felt good to make him a bit jealous, right?"

"No," she lied. "But enough about him." She turned her attention to May. "May, let's get your moving started. We're going to take care of you from now on."

May hesitated for just a moment. "You know, Mary Jane, and Mr. Stark, perhaps I should be talking to Peter instead, he is my nephew after all, and—"

Mary Jane cut her off while Tony watched, unsure. "May, just ask yourself this. How many times has he even invited you over to his place? Hell…he's gotten so rich, but does he even _have_ a place right now? He's still living with that Anna Maria woman, which means no room for you."

May sighed. "Okay, Mary Jane," she said. "I'll stay with you for a week. But as much as we've been discussing my nephew, I still know deep down inside, the young boy that I raised with Ben who was the epitome of responsibility…he will take care of me, somehow. So I don't want to insult him and say no. But I appreciate the kind offer."

Mary Jane shrugged, smiling. "Good enough for me."

* * *

Peter clenched his phone, ready to throw it across the room as he waited in the Coffee Bean impatiently. Tony and MJ _were_ dating. She hadn't even bothered to tell him. He sighed, telling himself again that he needed to get over her.

But man, that was easier said than done. _Especially when the typical Parker luck is in effect with the ladies_.

As he flipped through his phone, keeping tabs on production activity in the various worldwide Parker Industries hubs, he heard the bell of the coffee shop signal a new arrival and he looked up to see a beaming Betty Brant, hand in hand with Flash Thompson. He smiled and stood up, approaching Betty with a hug and then shook Flash's hands.

"Hey guys," he said, smiling warmly. "So good to see you!"

"Well Peter, we certainly feel the same," Betty responded, smiling. "Just nice to see you, period!"

Peter knew that was meant as a bit of a shot at his availability. "Look guys, I do apologize, and I know I've been a terrible friend, but let's get coffees, eh?"

The group ordered coffee after refusing to let Peter Pay for them, and then they settled down and Peter heard the story about how Flash had joined with the symbiote, and had begun working for the government, and recently had started going to space with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Betty was awestruck, and Peter was surprised how quickly she had been able to forgive Flash for his transgressions. But as he watched the body language between the two, he could tell Flash wanted more with her, while Betty wanted to take it slow and easy, unsure if this was going to last.

For his part, Peter added some perspective and caution to Flash about usage of the symbiote. He was extremely skeptical that Flash could actually control it, and even wondered out loud if the symbiote wasn't lying in a self-imposed dormancy before it had a self-assigned date or time to break out and reveal its better-known maniacal "true" self…at least to Peter. Flash, however, insisted he knew what he was doing and questioned Peter as to how he was suddenly a symbiote expert, and Peter reflexively pointed to his relationship with Spider-Man, which Flash grunted at (since he now knew Peter's dual identity) while Betty tried to get Flash and Peter to calm down a little.

At that tense point in the conversation, which didn't seem to go the way Peter had hoped, his phone buzzed and he saw it was a message from Sajani Jaffrey, his business partner in Parker Industries. He excused himself and read her messages.

 _Parker. get ur ass to Beijing NOW. (7:40 PM)_

 _U said u were gonna go 2 this funeral for 2 hours, not 8!11111! We are launching in 2 hrs get here ASAP (7:41 PM)_

Peter slapped his head and looked at Betty and Flash. "Guys, I'm so sorry, I have a launch I have to attend…but hey, I might be on TV in a few hours, so keep your eyes peeled."

Betty and Flash exchanged looks, unsure. "Uh, okay…" Betty managed, while Flash grabbed Peter as he was bolting out and whispered to Peter.

"Spider-stuff?" he asked covertly.

"Uh, not really, pal," Peter responded, and Flash yanked him back as he tried to run off.

"Then what the hell?" he hissed. "You know this is important to me, bro! I thought we were friends!" Flash looked pained, and Peter stopped for a second and looked at his friend.

"I'm sorry Flash…maybe I can make it up to you—"

"When, next century?" Flash retorted. "Look Puny. Go. But damn, you should look inside your soul sometime and see why everyone hates you now."

Peter sighed. Not this again. He waved to both Flash and Betty and bolted outside the shop as a limo pulled up and Peter hopped in, enroute to the suburban Boston airfield where his private sub-orbital jet awaited. Guilt washed over him, but only temporarily, as he wondered whether everyone else was wrong and he was right. _Maybe Flash and Betty needed to be aware he was working around-the-clock, instead of getting offended._

Two hours later, Peter was in the Parker Industries Beijing office, having received an earful from his partner/nemesis Sajani about being late for the biggest moment in the company's history. He apologized profusely as the two of them proceeded to the elevator that would take them about 500 feet underground and into a tube, leading directly to a newly built astronomy center. Thousands of Chinese and international press awaited.

"Might want to get rid of that salad leaf stuck in your tooth, Parker," Sajani quipped. "Put on your best TV face, this is going to be huge."

* * *

 _New York, NY_

At the Jameson family home, a throng of folks had gathered to pay their respects to the Jameson family. Of course, media crews had also come by as well.

J. Jonah had arrived back from Boston and immediately been pulled into this condolence charade by his son John. And while he had tried, Jonah had already gotten tired of what he felt were phony apologies, and had excused himself after 30 minutes, heading upstairs to his bedroom and flipping on the TV.

For all the grandiose lambasting that Jameson did in public, with the passing of his father he didn't know how to react. While he had somewhat reconciled with him, he wasn't sure he could ever forgive his absenteeism during his childhood and that seemed to temper the natural grief he had.

Trying to keep his mind off this situation, he loyally turned on his employer's network, the F.A.C.T. channel…and spit out his cigar and shouted in anger.

"Parker!" he angrily exclaimed to himself. "This bastard got some money and now he thinks he's better than everyone else." The boy was standing in front of a spaceship with a few other lackeys and talking about how excited he was to be taking off today to go to the moon. Jameson liked Parker deep down inside, but he had been surprised by how aloof he had been, and had taken particular exception to booting him off his first TV segment as well as taking money from his father that should have been Jonah's, without batting an eye (for his scientific investments).

The door opened and John popped in, a concerned look on his face. "Dad?" he asked, worried. "Everything all right? I heard you yelling…"

"Look at Parker, that no good sonuva—"

John grabbed the remote and tried to turn the TV off as he looked at the screen and then stopped. "Whoa…Peter's going to the moon?"

"Yes, and that should be you up there! Look at that John, he's stealing your thunder, ripping you off!" the elder Jameson yelled. "You're the real space hero, son! Parker is just a lousy photographer who used my dad's money to create nothing but danger and havoc with all his doohickies and whatchamacallits." He glowered at the screen, grabbing a cigar from his bedside drawer and producing a lighter.

John sighed, and Jameson was secretly upset that his son didn't seem to get angry about Peter's upcoming space trip. "Dad…please don't smoke right now, you know with your blood pressure, it's not good for your health. And dad, I will have plenty of other trips to the moon, rest assured…I'm not the only one that does space travel."

As Jonah continued to speak over Peter's press conference, John hoped Peter had considered the dangers. After his last experience where Doctor Octopus had attempted to sabotage his mission at a space station and he needed the assistance of Human Torch and Spider-Man, John figured he needed a bit of a break since the last four trips he had taken had all resulted in some sort of external chaos.

* * *

 _Beijing, China – Parker Industries Private Space Station_

"And so there you have it, everyone," Peter gestured to the space shuttle looming behind the ramp he was standing on. "This is the PI-5000. The first shuttle that's going to be able to land on the moon in less than 10 minutes."

He turned back to the flashing lights of the press conference and smiled. "I've asked an independent auditor to take a look at our shuttle, and he's reported on the safety and soundness of our designs."

He produced a paper. "What you're looking at, ladies and gentlemen, is a signed contract that will go into effect as soon as we return from the moon. The contract will immediately have us begin working with our partners here in Beijing on commercial-scale development of this technology."

Peter gestured broadly to the ceiling. "Just imagine. For years, we've all wondered how man could possibly travel to Mars, to other galaxies, but the farthest we've gone is the moon. Hell, we are so behind that no one has even gone to the moon in ages!" Peter smiled again. "But now, with this…the sky is the limit. And with that, I will end this press conference by saying I'm proud to announce that because of the new developments, Parker Industries will be leading the first manned mission to Mars in the history of mankind." For a moment, there was pindrop silence, then Peter nodded. "Thank you, everyone."

Immediately, questions began coming from all corners and Peter's media assistant stepped in to try and answer them, while he stepped off the ramp and headed towards the shuttle as Sajani and Anna Maria Marconi joined him. The three of them would be comprising the shuttle crew and they had trained for months for this.

As the preparations were being made, Peter closed his eyes, anticipating the takeoff, only to be rudely awakened by someone shaking his shoulder. "Hey, Parker!"

Peter opened his eyes, flustered, to find Nick Fury Jr., standing in front of him, pointing a finger at him. "Before your coworkers get back, remember our deal," he said. "You're not just going up there for your advertising and moment of glory. You're going up there for me, too."

Peter nodded. "I know, Nick," he said. "I've met with everyone from the team that was with your dad when he faced off against Doctor Midas, and I've talked to everyone that was there when we encountered the Orb a while back. I'll try my best to find him and bring him back. And if I don't, I'll make sure I find out what happened to him."

Fury nodded. "Good. Don't forget, with your aunt's husband gone, you need my money more than ever, and I own your ass exclusively now." He then walked away and Peter shuddered, realizing how dependent all of his operations were on outside funding.

As he tried to clear his mind, Sanjani and Anna Maria joined him, having finished their outfit preparation and now also getting strapped in. Peter remained silent, as they did. It was pretty obvious the three of them were too awed by what was about to happen.

Peter just hoped that with this secret mission Fury had added to his launch at the last minute, nothing crazy would happen.

Hopefully.

* * *

 _The Moon_

The creature known as the Unseen trudged along, chains in tow.

He had seen so much, learned and watched more than he could comprehend.

But for a man that had spent all his life taking action, he could now take none. What punishment. And perhaps rightfully deserved. He had killed Uatu, the Watcher, in a moment of anger and had been consequently punished with his burden by the other Watchers.

It was terrible, but he had learned quickly to get over the loss of his ability to get involved. One of the things that kept him going was monitoring the activity of his son, who practically despised him, but he was quite proud of. Today, in particular, he watched and discovered that he was going to have a visitor quite soon based on the conversation that had just concluded.

Nick Fury Sr., now known as the Unseen, managed to smile for the first time since he had been given this burden.

 _Spider-Man, I'm looking forward to meeting you again_ …

TO BE CONTINUED!


	5. A Fond Farewell

_New York, NY_

"Okay son, you all set?"

"Wah wah," came a response.

Harry Osborn smiled as he held his son, Stanley. He looked ahead as the two of them exited their beaten-up vehicle and proceeded to the house they had parked outside. While Harry had been here many times, the nondescript home had never seemed as packed as it did today as he noted cars lined up in the driveway, on the street, etc.

Harry reached the door, Stanley in one hand, as he rang the doorbell. A housekeeper opened the door a crack and peeked at him and his son. "May I help you?" she asked as the noise of guests could be heard in the background.

"I'm Harry Osborn," he stated. "I'm here to pay my condolences to Mr. Jameson on-"

As he stated his name, he saw the housekeeper's face darken. "You are not welcome here sir," she barked. "Good day and—"

Before she could close the door, a hand grabbed it from the side. Harry was surprised when the source of the hand revealed itself.

"Let him in, Trudy," Mary Jane Watson said, dismissing the Jameson's housekeeper. She then opened the door and hugged Harry. "Long time, Har. If that really is you with that getup."

Harry smiled as Mary Jane led him in, and he basked in the warmth of one of his oldest friends. "I'm stunned you recognize me with this shaved head and beard. Trying to go incognito, so I probably won't look like this the next time you see me…if ever."

Mary Jane appeared pained by that last comment, and then she lowered her voice as she looked around. "I'm sure it hasn't been easy for you, being on the run…trying to keep your kid safe," she admitted. The whole reason Harry had gone undercover and left New York in the first place was to protect his son, who had become a target for the underworld due to his being born to two parents who had been exposed to the Goblin Formula.

Harry briefly wondered about his ex, Lily Hollister, and then decided quickly not to. As he began to respond to Mary Jane and ask her what she was up to these days, suddenly he heard a voice yell out sharply.

 **TAKE HER! THIS IS WHY YOU WERE BROUGHT BACK IN THE FIRST PLACE!**

Harry grabbed his head, doubling over. Voices in his head.

 **WE WERE SILENT FOR TOO LONG, BUT NO MORE! WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR DILLY DALLYING! TAKE HER NOW, IN THIS HOUSE! IT IS YOUR DUTY!**

Deep down inside, Harry knew what this was a reference to, but he gritted his teeth and resisted as Mary Jane grabbed his shoulder out of concern and Stanley recoiled in fear, beginning to sob as he saw his father suffering.

 **YOU WILL PAY THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR YOUR BETRAYAL, SERVANT OF OURS!**

"Harry, are you—" Mary Jane started, but Harry quickly waved her off. He then grabbed her hand suddenly and squeezed it tightly.

Mary Jane looked briefly surprised, and Harry smiled tightly at her. "MJ," he pleaded. "Don't ask me why, but please keep holding my hand, and don't let go."

For a moment, she was taken aback, then she shrugged and continued to hold Harry's hand. The voices finally subsided after a few moments, and Harry sighed. As he stood up, he grabbed Stanley with his free hand again and he walked, still hand-in-hand with MJ, to the living area where the well-wishers were gathered to console the Jameson family.

He greeted May Parker Jameson, the widow of the deceased, and spent some time talking with Jonah Jameson Jr, who was visibly depressed and trying to hide it. He also caught up with John Jameson, who it felt like he hadn't spoken to in years. All the while, he kept holding onto Mary Jane's hand, for dear life. As he continued to do so, he noticed people giving him and Mary Jane interesting looks, but he ignored them.

Until he heard a loud voice from across the room, this time not in his head.

"Well, Harry, looks like you know where to go for your rebound when the chips are down, eh?"

Harry looked away from John and found Liz Allan standing hand in hand with their son, Normie Osborn. There was an awkward silence as the guests watched the scene, and Harry felt himself turning bright red. _Oh, great_ , he thought. _Just great_.

The last thing he wanted to have happen was to cause Liz unnecessary pain, and he braced himself as he let go of Mary Jane's hand before she could fire back at Liz, expecting the voices to start up, and before they could do so, he quickly whisked Liz and Normie out of the room they had been in and into a separate area of the house with Stanley in his other hand. He calmed down as he realized the voices hadn't resurfaced. He then sat in a chair across from Liz, who did the same. Meanwhile, Normie walked up curiously to Stanley, and the two immediately bonded. Harry smiled, while Liz looked coolly at the situation.

"Happy that your true son is getting along well with your bastard son, I see," she remarked. Harry remained quiet. Then he looked at his ex-wife angrily.

"Go to hell, Liz," he muttered.

She chuckled. "I would, but seems like you've booked all the rooms," she quipped. "Anyway, I'm glad you pulled me aside. I figured I should just give you this warning for old times sake. Your dad is very interested in his grandson."

Harry was confused. "Well yeah, I mean he loves Normie, doesn't—"

"No," Liz interrupted, shaking her head slowly, smiling at her ex-husband. "Not Normie." As it dawned on Harry, she smiled. "Yes, the one that has the right kind of blood…the bastard."

Harry stood up, hands balled in fists. "Don't call him that, Liz."

She gave a look of faux innocence. "Oh, I'm sorry. Or what, you'll call Daddy on me? Slap me up again, like you used to? Well news flash, Harry. Daddy and I are working together now. I guess you can call it finally seeing the light. Or maybe a common hatred of you and the pathetic human being you were. In any case, be thankful I had even an ounce of care left for you to give you this warning. Leave town now."

She stood up and called to Normie, who sulked. "But I wanna play with Stanley! This little baby is really cool."

"What did Mommy tell you about talking to strangers?" she responded, giving Harry an evil smile as she did so. Normie slowly walked over to his mother. "Now give your father a hug."

As Normie hugged his dad, he whispered in his ear, something that took Harry aback and pained him deeply. " _I hate you, deadbeat dad._ "

As Liz and Normie marched out of the room, Harry crumpled in the chair for a few moments, holding back tears. If this was what had happened, that his father and his ex-wife had brainwashed his son, what was there to live for?

He looked at Stanley, crawling around and making noises to himself. He looked down, sighing. He had to keep going, for Stanley. That was all that mattered.

Then he thought of the dark pact he had made, to even get here.

After a while, he got up, scooped up his son, walked out of the room and left the residence.

It would be the last time Harry saw Normie, Liz, Mary Jane, or anyone that was at the Jameson residence on that day ever again.

* * *

 _The Moon_

Peter Parker flew.

 _Okay, not really_ , Peter thought.

Peter _pretended_ he was flying, enjoying the gravity-free environment he had just entered. The mission to space had been mixed so far. Peter, Sajani, and Anna Maria had finally arrived on the moon after a half a day, a slight overage from the ten minute projection that Peter had boldly predicted at the press conference held earlier in the day. Still, it was by far the fastest anyone had ever gotten to the Moon, which had previously needed 3 days of travel.

Peter waved to the camera-robot that had been following him, an adaptation of the nanobots that had been originally created by Doctor Octopus when he was inhabiting Peter's body. The camera-robot was broadcasting Peter and the girls' movements to an audience on international TV channels back on Earth. While walking the moon was not a groundbreaking sight anymore, although quite rare in recent years, the real excitement was the timing in which the crew had needed to get here. Twelve hours. Amazing.

As Peter continued to walk, he decided to speak a little and pressed his communicator, as a speaker crackled to life. "Ladies and gents, we are now heading towards what is literally the dark side of the moon, where right now the sun is not shining, and so with that you might lose visual of me. Sajani and Anna Maria are further back that way," he pointed off to where they both stood about half a mile back, doing some excavation of the surface for minerals, "so with our latest technology at Parker Industries, you will now experience a split screen where you can watch all of our activity…and as you will be losing visual of me now I figured what better plan than to stream Pink Floyd's album, _Dark Side of the Moon_!" As Peter pressed a button, the knocking of "Speak to Me" began pounding through his speakers, and he turned away from the camera to trudge into the dark area.

As he reached for his flashlight, the music abruptly cut off and he suddenly felt himself being tugged by an invisible pair of hands, away from where Sajani and Anna Maria were. He protested, but he found no sound came from him, and suddenly a large bright light appeared in front of him, in the shape of a circular orb, revealing…a black door?

Peter was incredulous. He wasn't sure what was happening, but this did not look good. As his mind and heart raced, he looked around and saw steel poles emerging from the surface of the moon, breaking through as the ground shook. Peter then watched a hooded, shadowed figure emerge from the door, clanking as it walked towards him, and as it finally stepped right up to him, it took off the hood to reveal itself.

Nick Fury, Sr.

As Peter tried to speak, to tell him he was here to bring him back home at the request of his son, Fury raised his hand and spoke. "I know, Parker. Believe me, I know. But I can't leave now. I've been cursed and doomed to live here because of my sins, because I killed Uatu, the Watcher. And so his burden, is now mine. Do you understand?"

Before Peter could speak, suddenly Fury stepped back like he had taken a punch to his gut. He ripped off his signature eyepatch to reveal a socketless eye that had small purple bolts of lighting rotating in it. He then roared at Peter.

"YOU ARE NOT RIGHT. DEAR HEAVENS AND EARTH, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? HOW COULD YOU HAVE DONE THIS, BOY?"

Without warning, Fury then grabbed Peter by the shoulders and Peter immediately felt himself being electrocuted. The pain of a thousand volts coursed through him, and suddenly…

"BY THE POWER VESTED IN ME BY THE WATCHERS, BY THE POWER OF MY CURSE, AS THE UNSEEN, I FORCE YOU TO **SEE**."

…it all came rushing back to him.

Everything.

As the lightning surged through Peter and Fury held him tightly, opening him to the knowledge of the Watcher, the knowledge that overcame any and all machinations, even those of the devil himself, Peter immediately recalled the terrible thing he had done, and the consequences he would now face in the future.

The reality he had destroyed with his actions, the reality that was lost, was once more revived in his memories.

As he tried to close his eyes, he found he could not, and he began to see visions of Mephisto, of Aunt May's death-that-should-have-been, of the daughter he would never have, of a reality that had been lost to him forever, and the physical pain became secondary to the mental anguish that flooded his core.

Most of all, he watched as he relived all the happiness he had shared with his wife, Mary Jane, and how he had given it all up to deal with Satan himself, instead of accepting the natural course of life and death.

What had he done?

His heart sank as he faintly heard Sajani's voice coming over her speaker, nearing Peter, only to turn into frenzied screams of anguish and shortly after, nothing.

These screams were the last thing Peter heard before everything went to black.

* * *

 _Hell_

Mephisto watched what had happened on the Moon and sighed as he lazed on his throne. For a moment he considered taking action and reversing everything, but after a few moments he thought better of it, and did nothing. He wasn't sure how easy that would be now anyway, especially as he had taken great pains to win back his throne from Strong Guy and had agreed to some new rules and conditions after re-gaining his title. He had already taken great risk by torturing his failure of an emissary earlier in the day, which was technically against the "rules…" but the emissary was doing such a crappy job!

There were better things to worry about now, and besides, Parker's soul could still be his…if his scheming inmate that had put him up to the task in the first place took matters into its own hands. Which meant it would have to do all this behind Mephisto's back.

What a paradox. By someone else breaking the rules that he had created, Mephisto could get what he wanted.

He heard the booming sound of his nether clock, stood up and grabbed his trident.

Mephisto quickly forgot about the Parker situation as the highlight of his day approached.

It was time to torture his inmates.

* * *

 _Peter Parker looked around, as he came to._

 _He was surrounded by nothing but white. No walls, no structure, nothing except a sense that this was not real life anymore. He looked at himself, and saw that he was wearing a white suit, with white pants, and…red shoes?_

 _As he tried to comprehend what had just happened, he briefly wondered if he was dead. It could very well have been the case, although it would have been a shame if—_

 _Suddenly, off in the distance, he saw a black speck moving towards him quickly. The black speck neared, and after a few seconds he could make a figure in the distance running towards him, arms outstretched._

 _Propelled by some unseen force, and curiosity, Peter began running in the direction of the figure, his arms also outstretched. He got a closer look at the figure, now only 100 or so yards away from him, and smiled._

 _Gwen Stacy!_

 _She was still in the outfit she had been wearing when she died, and her smile was as radiant as ever, just as he had remembered her. She was saying something to him, but he couldn't hear. As he moved closer to her, he quickly stopped as fire appeared on her dress._

 _Gwen apparently didn't notice, as he could hear her now. "Peter, I missed you so much!"_

 _Peter tried to speak, but no words came out, and as the fire consumed her, and she continued to run towards him, what Peter saw made him turn the other way and begin running from her._

 _Within moments, Gwen was totally consumed by flames. Somehow it had no impact on her looks or skin as she seemed to be immune, but now she was chasing Peter and laughing as the flames danced around her. "What's the matter, lover? Don't you want to be with me? Come back!"_

 _Peter now ran for his life, unsure where he was going and when this would end. Without warning, he tripped and fell, and just before the burning figure of Gwen was atop him, he closed his eyes and thought of Mary Jane._

" _I love you, MJ."_

* * *

 _Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY_

Peter Parker gasped and woke up.

As he did so, he immediately felt pain shooting through his joints and found difficulty in moving. He looked around and saw he was in a hospital room, tied to a bed.

Nurses ran over to him, excitedly remarking that he was awake, and a doctor came over and began running some tests on him. After an hour, he told Peter that he had been in a coma and was lucky to be alive. As Peter's life signs stabilized, he tried to recall what had happened but had no memory after the moon landing. The doctor told him to relax and that his memory would come back. He then happily announced to Peter that a visitor had arrived.

As the door to the hospital room opened, Harry Osborn walked in with his younger son in tow, as the doctors and nurses let Harry and Peter spend some time together. Peter smiled broadly. "Harry!" he exclaimed.

Harry ran over to Peter, surprised. "Wow," he said. "Peter, I'm so happy you're okay…when the news broke about your accident…"

Peter was confused. "What accident? And also, no one else is here? What happened to Sajani and Anna Maria?"

Harry was quiet for a moment. Then he forced a laugh. "Peter, I've heard you burned a lot of bridges lately, but quite frankly, they weren't letting anyone in here. I have a few connections that I managed to use to get past the guards and visit you. After all, you're my best friend, pal."

Although he seemed to have ignored the question about Sajani and Anna Maria, Peter was touched, and grabbed his friend's hand, clasping it…

…and suddenly, all the memories returned…

…even the ones he had regained on the Moon…

…again.

The blood drained from Peter's face as he looked at Harry and yelled at him. "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ALIVE!" He sprang from his bed, shaking off all the equipment. "YOU DIED IN MY ARMS!" He grabbed Harry by the face. "YOU'RE NOT REAL!"

Suddenly, Harry's face began to reveal lines appearing on it, almost as if his face was cracking, and Peter jumped away from him while Harry made no effort to do anything, the look on his face showing complete resignation. Peter also realized his son was nowhere to be seen, despite having appeared earlier with his father.

Without warning, where Harry was standing, an explosion occurred, dead in the center of the hospital room, and Peter braced and squeezed his eyes shut, thinking this was truly the end.

Inexplicably, the impact was minimal. The smoke cleared unusually quickly, and when Peter opened his eyes, he saw a hollowed out corpse on the ground where Harry had stood only moments ago, steaming lightly but not significantly.

Peter coiled himself into a ball in the corner of the room, tears and emotion overwhelming him, as he couldn't deal with everything that had just happened and lost memories that had come back to him. The door suddenly burst open and hospital orderlies grabbed Peter roughly, no doubt having witnessed the action on the security cameras, and began clubbing him and subduing him.

Peter didn't react, his spider-strength shielding him, but he felt numb to everything. The orderlies dragged him out of the hospital room, and Peter let them as they yelled various things at him.

"You terrorist!"

"You just killed an innocent man, psycho!"

"I think he's got PTSD from that thing that happened up there on the moon!"

"You're going to suffer for your crimes!"

Mentally, Peter didn't object as he heard the last part.

For making a deal with the devil, and for the person he had become, he would have to face the consequences.

As Peter was dragged away, Stanley Osborn hid in a janitorial closet, watching the scene through a crack in the door, then he crawled back into the room when no one was looking.

The infant moved over to the source of the smoke and kissed the steaming body of Harry Osborn.

Then he spoke to the corpse.

"You're a lucky bastard, Osborn. My little charade as your infant son was fun, but I guess it didn't work out. No worries. I hope you enjoy the pearly gates, you were too good for us inmates of Hell anyway. In a way, your failed second act and refusal to follow our orders is what got you out of there forever. Ironic."

Stanley touched the corpse, his own body shimmering, as if on the form of a transformation, smiled at the security camera that he knew couldn't detect him, and then a flash occurred and he vanished into thin air.

* * *

 _Thanks for all the reviews, we appreciate everyone writing in! Stay tuned because this story just picked up! And now to your comments:_

 _Celgress writes in again!_ "Poor delusional Jackal got his ass handed to him ha ha ha. I'm glad you didn't go the mind swap route, especially right out the gate, that would have been a tad too predictable. Even Flash initially gave Peter a hard time when Pete revealed his dual identity, damn our Spidey just can't win now can he..." and "Great chapter, sadly it seems Peter is devolving into a Charles Foster Kane type character. A man who's happiness is ruined by power and fame."

 _Celgress, Spidey just can't win, and now as you can see, Peter's happiness is clearly ruined as his memories of the darkest moment in his life have returned thanks to his encounter with Nick Fury, the new Watcher, who had to "fix" him._

 _Keyblade Master Cole also returns! "_ Wait how can Tony not who Spidey is I thought Peter showed him who he was after Pete mind wipe everyone who knew he is and mj whoa what a bitch."

 _KMC, as you'll recall from the books, after the mindwipe even Tony doesn't have any recollection of Peter's secret identity. No mean words about MJ!_

 _Wolvmbm, an old fan of ours, writes "_ Great update to this wonderful storyline so far. I cannot wait to see what happens next in this tale of yours" _and tevya smolka writes "_ when is the next chapter coming just wondering"

 _Gang, we appreciate your excitement, and the wait is over, because the revelations of this chapter rocked Peter's life! What will happen next? FIND OUT TOMORROW!_


	6. Interlude

_The Edge of Hell_

A tortured soul dragged itself to what it knew to be edge of hell, clawing its way atop one of the most terrifying peaks in all of Mephisto's domain. It had made this journey that had seemed like an eternity after hearing of the impending failure and loss of its future destiny. It had tried to call upon Mephisto to take action, but the dark lord had not responded to the pleas. In fact, for the first time the soul could recall, Mephisto had not shown up for his daily torture session with the group it was a part of. That had led the soul to recognize something was _definitely_ off this morning.

Since its arrival in hell, the wraith had heard rumors about other demons that cut deals to temporarily bring souls back to Earth—for those that had unfinished business. Typically, dictatorial and tyrannical types that had been damned and cast in the darkest lots of hell would use these demons to somehow find a way to continue their horrible reigns from beyond the grave, but they would somehow always fail.

The idea, the soul had heard, in whispers from various other inmates, was for the damned soul making the request to provide "food" of a sort to these demons so that they could not only be satisfied that they could trust a soul, but also have enough subsistence to get the soul back to Earth to do whatever they needed to do. However, the reliability and length of time, as well as the form in which the soul would be sent back, varied.

The soul reached the peak and hauled itself over the cliff onto the peak. It surveyed its surroundings. For the moment it was still shapeless, formless, just a shadow smoldering with smoke coming out of it. But its mind had been spared Mephisto's punishment today, and that had given it the clarity of mind to take action.

Then it saw a little human male child appear from seemingly out of nowhere and crawl over to it, light shimmering from his body. The soul shielded itself. Light in hell was unusual. This couldn't be…then the child spoke (?!)

" **Will you help me?** " the child asked, in a high-pitched voice. " **I'm so hungry and I need someone to give me the way.** "

The soul cautiously approached the child and sat down to level with him. " _What do you mean, little one?_ "

The child gave a sweet smile that seemed to defy its surroundings. " **You…you represent the enduring legacy of the most evil human alive today. Unlike all the other idiots that have tried to do this and failed, that fact right there gives you a certain…distinction. All you need to do is direct me to this human so I can feed on his dark soul, and then I will give you what I know you desire…for your time is running out, due to certain events on the Moon…** "

The wraith was taken aback. " _How do you know what I—_ "

The child smiled again, this time grinning while showing its teeth. Its eyes suddenly flashed, and it was noticeable now that the pupils had become red. " **You know who I am…my daddy runs around here sometimes…anyway…I know why you want to go back! You—** "—the child poked the soul on the shoulder here—" **need to conquer the soul of the one you want to drag down here…before your little spell is broken or made irrelevant. Good news for you, with our combined darkness of intent, I can guarantee you 24 hours up there at full strength, pure and unrestricted. Longer than we've ever given any human…with the exception of your comrade, rest his soul.** "

For a moment the soul froze. Apparently the secrets it had learned about the rules and loopholes of Hell were not so secret after all. " _Wait—my comrade...is he—_ "

The child's smile vanished momentarily. " **Hmph! Oh, my 'other' dad…yeah. He failed…miserably, I might add…but somehow, he managed to get accepted to Heaven after the conclusion of his escapade for you…guess you guys sent him up there to 'keep them apart'—and he not only failed to do that, but he apparently got a gold star for 'resisting temptation'…** " Then the child pointed at himself.. " **Yeah, which is why I exist…resisting temptation, indeed…hilarious! At least I was able to possess that female's womb rather quickly upon conception.** "

The soul was utterly confused, but went along with it. " _Who is your true father?_ "

" **Daddy dearest? Why you know him by many names…Satan…Lucifer…Devil…Mephistopheles…** "

Suddenly it dawned on our wraith who it was talking to…" _You must be Blackheart…_ "

The child bowed. " **The one and only!** "

Without warning, in an explosion of light, Blackheart's true form burst out of the body of the child, stretching about ten feet tall, spikes jutting out of his arms, red eyes glowing, and slimy tentacles protruding out of its head. It hissed at the soul, now revealing its true form.

" _ **Accelerate your process! I do not have all day! My stomach growls!**_ " it roared.

The soul cowered in fear, and then collected itself. The events on the Moon had indeed accelerated matters. If its comrade had failed and the object of the soul's love had remembered everything, it would only be a matter of time before the deal would expire…before its chance to be united with its love was lost forever. " _My dear Blackheart…_ " it managed. " _I command you to dispatch of he who stole my possibilities from me. Feed on the blackest soul of all, and then with your new strength, give me the temporary life I need, to salvage my dark purpose._ "

Blackheart roared with excitement, then he disappeared in a flash of light.

This time, our tortured soul did not forget anything, and thereafter began waiting.

The time to emerge would be coming soon.

TO BE CONTINUED!


End file.
